On night one of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention, the party laid out all of its arguments against the incumbent president, capping the evening with a powerful speech from Michelle Obama. On night two, it took care of some convention essentials with a surprisingly entertaining roll call before inviting former presidents and Jill Biden to close out the livestream. On night three, Hillary Clinton returned to the spotlight, President Obama framed the election as a battle for America’s democracy itself, and Kamala Harris made history.
The theme of the fourth and final night of the 2020 DNC will be “America’s Promise,” featuring host Julia Louis-Dreyfus and a slate of speakers including Andrew Yang, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Cory Booker, Tammy Duckworth, Pete Buttigieg, and others before ending the night, and convention, with Joe Biden’s big speech. Follow all the socially distanced fun right here as Intelligencer staffers provide live updates on day four of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Updates will appear in reverse chronological order.
Early indicators regarding the response to Biden’s speech
When the mask is the message
Followed by a parking lot fireworks show:
Biden makes his case
Contrast was clearly the goal:
The section on the COVID-19 response was particularly strong:
There was also what appeared to be a call to his fellow boomers, with regards to racism:
Also a “Make the American President Great Again” vibe:
It started slow, but picked — and built — up:
On the deliberate staging, which included another slow zoom like was used for Obama’s speech on Wednesday night:
And as Intelligencer’s Gabriel Debenedetti adds, “they’ve learned from last night, when they panned around the convention hall and you could see the press pool typing uncomfortably and…nothing else.”
Welcome to prime time
Bloomberg lets his Trump insults fly
Or Senator Warren…
There was also a fly:
Trump was clearly pleased to see Mike again:
Mayor Pete talks change-agency
One of the missing primary opponents
Duckworth calls Trump ‘coward in chief’ who is a puppet of foreign tyrants
A 95-year-old Republican WWII veteran
The scene at the parking lot rally in Wilmington
TikTok star Sarah Cooper (and her Trump lip-syncing) gets a cameo
A recurring theme
Can confirm that Intelligencer Slack (and some of Twitter) is also divided on this issue
Senator Chris Coons underlines Biden’s faith
Intelligencer’s Ed Kilgore notes how Coons called Biden a “servant leader,” in what was clearly meant as a signal to evangelicals.
The Chicks-spangled banner
Yang returns with a reminder — and a comedy routine
And then there was this exchange with tonight’s host, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Newsom opens night four with a Facetime from the field
A drive-in crowd outside of where Biden will broadcast his speech in Delaware
Trump’s attempt to counter-program
The president, casting aside yet another norm, has done anything but lay low during the DNC this week — and on Thursday, he held an event next to Biden’s hometown in Pennsylvania in an effort to capture some attention on his opponent’s big day. (He will also do a live interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Thursday night.) Here’s what happened earlier, a short distance from Biden’s childhood home in Scranton, per ABC News:
Speaking outside an office building [in Old Forge, PA] to a crowd of supporters, Trump used apocalyptic imagery to paint what he said Biden’s America would look like and deemed him “no friend of Pennsylvania – he is your worst nightmare.”
“If you want a vision of your life under Biden presidency, think of the smoldering ruins in Minneapolis, the violent anarchy of Portland, the bloodstained sidewalks of Chicago, and imagine the mayhem coming to your town, and every single town in America,” Trump said Thursday afternoon.
“So, tonight, we have … Slow Joe will speak at the Democrat convention. And I’m sure that he will just knock them dead,” he continued. “And he will remind us that he was born in Scranton, but you know, he left like 70 years ago, right? He left a long time ago.”
Hunter Biden will speak (with his sister, Ashley)
The final schedule of the final night of the DNC came out on Thursday afternoon with a surprise addition: Hunter Biden, the son of pending presidential nominee Joe Biden, will speak, along with his sister, Ashley, shortly before Biden accepts the nomination. Hunter Biden, of course, has long been a big target for President Trump and his allies, who have tried to politically weaponize the younger Biden’s shady business dealings while his father was vice-president — even after Trump was impeached over his attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating the father and son.
The DNC says that the Biden siblings will “tell us about their father” in their remarks.
This post will be repeatedly updated.
